3 Essential Vitamins And Nutrients To Include In Your Diet After 40

When you reach the age of 40, it is quite natural that your body will possibly not be as healthy as when you were 20. It is likely that you would have put on more weight, muscle mass may have started deteriorating, chronic diseases may have set in, and joints may be less cooperative than before. To stay as fit and healthy as possible, you need to not only exercise right but also eat right, especially foods that have the essential vitamins and nutrients. Some important nutrients that you should focus on:

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 should definitely be on your list of things to be looking out for once you are 40-plus because that’s the stuff that enables your brain and circulation system to function normally. Since B12 cannot be as readily absorbed from animal protein by aging bodies due to depletion of stomach acid, you may require looking out for supplements to meet the recommended daily dietary allowance of 2.4 mg. Consuming too much is not an issue, as anything excess passes out with the urine.

Calcium

The usefulness of calcium supplements to improve bone health is now a matter of hot debate, but irrespective of whether the probability of getting fractures is actually reduced or not, you still need calcium for the proper functioning of the heart and nerves, as well as for muscles to contract properly. The real problem of not taking calcium supplements is that inadequate calcium intake may actually end up weakening your bones due to leaching. Due to the number of risks associated with excessive calcium intake, it is perhaps better to avoid supplements and seek to fulfill the deficiency with foods that are rich in calcium like dairy products, broccoli, tofu, spinach, almonds, sardines, etc. If you are building muscle mass, it may be advisable to increase your calcium intake and explore the benefits of online steroids.

Vitamin D

Deficiency of Vitamin D has been linked to diseases as diverse as diabetes, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, colorectal and breast cancers, etc. that are more of a possibility with age. Also, without Vitamin D, our body is unable to absorb calcium that’s essential for bone health. You can get Vitamin D from fish as well as a number of grains and fortified oils and dairy products. However, the problem is that Vitamin D obtained from food products is not absorbed very well by the body. The body itself naturally makes Vitamin D when the skin is exposed to the sun, though adequate exposure could be a problem for most people not living close to the equator. The daily recommended dose is at least 600-800 IU with no harm until the upper end of 4000 IU is crossed consistently.

Conclusion

Additionally, you need to make sure that you are able to get nutrients like magnesium and potassium, which are essential for keeping in check diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, etc. Omega-3s too need to be consumed adequately as they tend to counter cardiac disease and decline in cognitive power and brain function.